THE QUILTING BLOG

Hi! I'm Janice and I blog over at Better Off Thread. I'm really honored and excited that Robert Kaufman Fabrics is hosting this quilt-along for my Kite Flight Pattern. It's such a fun and quick pattern, so I hope you all decide to join in.

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I love hearing about the design process of other quilters, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about mine. An idea for a quilt pops into my mind (usually at very inconvenient times, like just before bed) and I figure out how it is going to be constructed after I have drawn it out. I feel that this frees me to design quilts that I wouldn't otherwise come up with if I were trying to design with a certain pre-cut, or block in mind. So, when I came up with Kite Flight, I wasn't thinking, "I really want to design a pattern for Skinny Strips." It was just a very happy accident.

My original design was a study in creating depth through value and one-point perspective:

While I would still really love to make this quilt someday, it wouldc never translate to a pattern very easily. The templates would be huge! I decided to simplify it and shrink the entire quilt down to block size and that was when I came up with this:

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Are you ready to join in on the Kite Flight Quilt-Along?! I'm going to give you a few tips to help you along the way.

#1: You do not need to make this quilt from rainbow colors. What is important is having a range of value. I love the version RK asked me to make with a Kona Neutral Roll-up.

#2: When you are grouping together your strips, take a B&W photo of them if you aren't sure if one strip is lighter (or darker) than another. Removing the color works wonders anytime you are making a value-based design.

#3: Because you are cutting your fabrics on the bias, a bit of starching will help to keep them from stretching. After you sew your strips together, starch them as you are pressing the seams open.

#4: When you are piecing your blocks, I recommend light pressing with a dry iron, to keep the bias from stretching. Once the blocks are sewn together, you can give the entire quilt top a nice steam press.

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I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! Be sure to stop by my blog today to check out my fabric choices and progress in the quilt-along. And don't forget to tag your Instagram and Facebook pics with #kiteflight so we can all see what you're making, too!